Grooming young MPs

President Mahinda Rajapaksa has met newly elected MPs from the Government to obtain their inputs on national issues particularly with regard to the development goals that have been set for the country. The President also instructed the Treasury Secretary to incorporate some of the suggestions of these new MPs in the national budget. The young always bring with them radical views and fresh ideas which could be of immense value particularly in this new era of technological advancement. Unlike in the past youth today are more probing and sophisticated and in this context the young MPs could come up with suggestions the Government could ill afford to ignore. At the meeting with the President these MPs had also called on him to introduce measure to stem the brain drain. This is an indication of how they view the picture as a whole.

Therefore bringing new MPs into the picture indeed is a good trend that would lead to these MPs playing a more active role in governance rather than be mere appendages to the ruling party. We have seen in the past most young MPs idling as back benches in Parliament with no role to play and not making any worthwhile contribution to Parliament debates. They merely picked up their attendance allowances and enjoyed the perks and privileges of MPs. They were hardly accountable and did not engage in national tasks. Now that the President has got new MPs to be part and parcel of the administration it is hoped things would move much faster in the development sphere.

Already young MPs have been put in charge of overseeing development activities in the North. Such exposure is bound to give them a hands on experience in such matters that would stand them in good stead in the future when they graduate into Ministerial office. This is also a good opportunity to gauge the output of young MPs upon which results they could aspire for promotion to Ministerial rank. It is better to have freshers move up the ranks rather than thrust them into the deep end at the very outset. This will give them the necessary experience and maturity before they eventually make the grade.

Today at a time when the Government has embarked on gigantic development projects to take the country into a new era of progress and prosperity there is no room for shirkers among the ranks of MPs.

Therefore the move to co-opt these new Members of Parliament into the mainstream of activity is a sound one. On the other hand young MPs could also introduce their own innovative ideas and proposals where necessary to facilitate the development process. We say this because we have among our young MPs professionals in diverse fields whose ideas could be valuable.

Young MPs too could be a good conduit for the Government to gauge the pulse of public, for they are closer to the grassroots than the senior Ministers who tend to be aloof due to their Ministerial responsibilities. These MPs could also be of great help in supervising development work in the electorates. With the Government set to prescribe a proportion for youth representation in Parliament there is bound to be more and more young MPs replacing the old guard. This is a good augury for the future paving the way for youth to be major stakeholders in the country's administration.

School vans

According to a front page news item in an English Daily the Government was considering the possibility of introducing a licence for operating school vans. Education Minister Bandula Gunawardena was quoted as saying that his Ministry had discussions with the Motor Traffic Department but a final decision was pending.

We do not know if this school van licensing will see the light of day, but there certainly is a need to apply curbs on a majority of these school vans which are plying recklessly endangering life and limb of the schoolchildren.

Some of these vans are packed like sardines and in some instance children are made to sit on others laps to make space for more loading and extra income. Worse, some parents too don't mind this discomfiture so long as their children are driven to school and brought back safely in a vehicle rather than risk bus travel that is fraught with danger. Nevertheless these school vans are seen racing away at breakneck speed in order to pick up children to be on time at school posing even a graver risk than bus travel.

The condition of some of these school vans too are deplorable. Some of them are rickety old jalopies chugging way issuing thick black smoke which also find its way into the interior of the van through open floorboards making these vehicles virtual gas chambers for children. School van drivers have also become a law unto themselves emulating their private bus colleagues. Recently it was reported how these van drivers had virtual lain seige of a main thoroughfare opposite a leading girls school in Colombo obstructing the parking of other vehicles. It is time something is done to rein in school van operators by introducing disciplinary measures.